Standing, Fighting
by WildRoverMarauderess8
Summary: Zak Storm and the rest of the 7Cs have spent the past four years together, seeking a way out of the notorious Bermuda Triangle. But the dynamic is shifting-that unspoken bond that's always been there is surfacing for Zak and Cece, and he's still determined to keep the promise he made his father. Zak, Calabrass, Cece,Crogar, Caramba, Clovis, and the Chaos continue their adventures.
1. Chapter 1

1\. The Surf Rat

The vortex glittered as we approached.

"Yeah! All right, 7Cs!" I cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

"Aye, lad, that's the way to do it! Rattle 'em boneheads!" Calabrass crowed from my shoulder.

"Keep it up, 'Brass, and I'll end up talkin' like ye," I joked, shaking my head.

"Belay that! 'Tis been a fair few years," he countered. "If ye don't start soon, I'm a bowlegged whale."

"Bowlegged whale?" I shook my head again. I'd knocked it in the fight, and it was still sore. "Now, where'd that come from?"

Calabrass opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by our resident poltergeist.

"Argh!" Clovis tried to impersonate a roar as he materialized on the quarterdeck. "The sea of _Beru_!" He placed a proud hand to his chest. "Welcomes _back_ Captain _Zak_ and his _crew_!"

"Ah, no, Clovis," Caramba groaned. "Not the rhyme phaseox again."

That was fair—Clovis had once spent an entire week speaking in rhyme. Everything he said verged on poetry, and none of it was enjoyable. "Zak" and "back" was only such an amusing rhyme after hearing it the first forty times.

"Crogar likes Clovis's rhymes," interjected Crogar, removing his horned helmet.

"Only because Crogar does not rhyme with anything," a new voice spoke up. "I believe what Clovis is trying to say, Zak Storm, is that that was an admirable bit of captaining there."

I felt my cheeks heat underneath my freckles as Cece mounted the steps to the quarterdeck. Her face, too, was flushed, a shy smile on her open features. Shy? Cece? Yet we both dropped our eyes as she joined us.

"Uhhh..." I tried to think up an excuse, anything, yet my tongue felt tied. I waved my hands a bit helplessly. "Yeah, it's just the 7Cs, kickin' ass and being awesome as usual! Couldn't have done it without my amazing Atlantean warrior." I rubbed the back of my head. "And my brain sure paid for it. I'm gonna start wearing a helmet," I complained.

Cece laughed a little bit, then her cheeks flamed. "Oh...I'm...I'm sorry, Zak," she said, her voice faltering. "I..."

I waved a hand. "Eh, you're fine. All right, crew. Head down and grab some grub, Crogar makes a mean winkle stew. The _only_ mean stew," I added as an afterthought, reflecting on some of the awful things he liked eating, and worse, cooking.

The rest of my Triangle family shuffled down below, except for Clovis, who bounced around, appearing here, appearing there, as he played with some orb of light he'd picked up from Caramba. "Wheeee!"

I smiled and crossed my arms, surveying the deck. "You're never gonna grow up, are you, Clovis?"

"Little hard when I don't have me body! I don't have to deal wi' any o' that icky stuff!" He called back, never ceasing his play. He winked at me, then disappeared, no doubt to play some trick on the others.

I laughed and leaned over the wheel, lost in thought. Night was falling over the Bermuda Triangle—or at least the Sea of Beru. Stars were beginning to appear. I wondered if seeing the stars here meant you were looking into the Sea of Zite. And then I started thinking about the stars you could see from Earth, from home... _I promised him. I said I'd make it back. But I'm not._

I sighed tiredly.

"Spit it out, Zak. What's eatin' ye?" Calabrass demanded. He had noticed that my smile had slipped into a frown.

"Oh...," I began, my voice cracking a bit. "I mean...it's been years, Cal. I've had four birthdays since I fell into the Triangle." I lapsed into thought. "I'm a man, 'Brass. By my world's standards, at least. And yet...I still haven't gotten my crew home. We've had some great adventures, but we've also lost. A lot. And I just started thinking about the stars and then it reminded me of home and—"

"Stars! Neptune's beard. The stars brought on this womanly display?" My friend scoffed. "Pull it together, Zak. I know ye, and I know ye'll get us out someday soon."

I shrugged. "Not the point. Yeah, yeah, I'm capable, but it hasn't happened. The point is that we should have been home. Already. A long time ago. You could have your body—and Clovis too—Crogar could return to his Vikings—Caramba to Wahoolia—and Cece...she could return to Atlantis. And I made my dad a promise! Don't you understand? Back in my world, he'd be sending me off to college now." I stopped talking, dejected silence taking over.

"We don't even know how the return works, laddie," Calabrass reminded me gently.

"He…he is right, Zak." I jumped a bit. I had been so distracted that I hadn't noticed Cece step back onto the quarterdeck, and now she was standing behind me. "We really do not know. How does Caramba get back to Wahoolia? And Crogar? He is not from our time. And I do not think Clovis is either. Does the portal just send us to our respective times, locations, homes? Or are we all just stuck where you came from?"

"Hey, that'd be cool," I said. "Party at my place! You could meet my dad and I could show you what real music is!"

"I've heard your real music, and I still prefer a good hornpipe," Calabrass grumbled.

"And it would not be cool," Cece added. "None of us would actually be home, after all."

"Okay…okay, you're right." I sighed. "I just…I'm really gonna miss you guys."

I focused on Cece with a question in my eyes. She looked down at the deck of the _Chaos._

"Ye scrub, I ain't leavin' ye so easily," Calabrass rumbled, his gruff voice warm.

"Thanks, 'Brass," I said, eyes still on Cece, as I toyed with my belt.

She hesitated. "I will miss you too. And I am sorry, Captain, for intruding on your discussion…and startling you...I just wanted to make sure you were okay. And I am sorry for laughing before. An Atlantean princess should not be amused by her captain's pain." This was delivered with great shame, and a bowed head.

"Ah, Cece..." I placed a hand on her shoulder. It was warm. "Don't sweat it. I did make a joke about it, and I do have a hard head, and I know you were probably just...well, you seemed..."  
I trailed off. This was getting complicated. Oh yes, I definitely liked Chrysta Coraline Lejune. [BC1] [BC2] But we could leave the Triangle any day. And I'd have to face up to losing her after acknowledging what I felt. Was it love? Search me. I didn't exactly have a normal teenage experience. But how was that fair to me...or Cece?

Calabrass would probably tell me I was thinking too much. "A pirate never thinks," he would say.  
I laughed out loud.

"I seemed what?" Cece asked after a long silence punctuated only by that laugh. Right now, she seemed put off. "And you _do_ have a hard head."

"From you, I don't think that's a compliment," I replied, shifting from foot to foot.  
In the starlight, she was beautiful—her ponytailed hair, which resembled the pink anemones I'd once seen at a tidepool, seemed to bristle. Those reflective, sober eyes glowed from within like a Marituga sunset.

"It's not." She had her fists clenched, the scaled gauntlets taut.  
We stared at each other. Things I wanted to say were lost in translation.

"Well...Cece, I'm fine," I said at last. "And...well...you seemed nervous." I didn't really think there was any going back now.

"I was," she said faintly. Her brow furrowed. "I'm an Atlantean princess. How can this be happening?"

"Wha...what is that?" I asked, just as faintly.

She was looking at me like she'd never seen me before. Somehow tenderly.

The urge overpowered me. I found that my hand was still on her shoulder, and that it was slipping around to the small of her back. My other hand searched her cheek, where I detected wetness.

"Zak..." she breathed, her voice trembly somehow.

I brought our lips crashing together. It was passionate, but gentle, and when we pulled away, her eyes were shining.

"Nervous," I said, my own voice wobbly. "Because I wanted to do that. And I thought you might, too."

A big smile curved her full lips, lips I craved just then. God, I'd grown up in the Triangle. A lot.

"How did you know," she responded, still secure in my embrace. "And I was just imagining...how impossible it is that this Atlantean princess has fallen in love with this surf rat turned captain turned man."

Whoa," I said, gaping at her.

"Quite the metamorphosis," she agreed.

"Well, I was just...I was laughing because I was overthinking this. And I don't usually think—I act."

"I sincerely hope that becomes your new custom for how you approach everything," Cece smirked. I made a disgruntled sound and resumed staring at her. She blushed under my look, pretty as any mermaid. The way the light glinted off of her purple scales, the warmth of her body curved against mine, that feeling...like floating free of my body in Zite, and I knew, I knew, whatever else happened, however we left the Triangle, we could not lose each other.

Not an option.

"Hey, barnacle brain, stave off the gawking," a sharp voice sounded, way too close to my ear.  
I gave a start, jarring Cece. "Calabrass!"

"Forget I'm here during that little moment of yours?" He sounded pretty miffed. Cece tugged on her ponytail, a tentative, embarrassed smile flitting across her features, as she pulled back. I caught her hand before she could walk away.

"Yeah, yeah actually I did. Sorry, Calabrass."

He snorted. "Never ye mind, Zak. I was always rootin' for you and the fish lady to figure it out anyway. Though ye are one of the weirder pairings I've seen."

I broke into a huge smile, mirrored by Cece's. She wasn't even upset by the use of "fish lady," which was a first.

"Thanks," I said, meaning it.

"Well, Zak..." Cece stepped back. "I'll leave you to your starlight vigil." Before she could free her hand, I knelt, bowed, and kissed her glove.

"There you are, Princess." I gave her my best smile and loosed her hand. She returned it with full force. Chrysta Coraline Lejune was at loss for words.

And it was because of me. I whooped.

...

After she'd left, much, much later, before I went to sleep, I flopped on my bed with a grin so big I worried my face might split.

"If ye've any more plans wi' the wee lass, remember to take me off and face me towards the wall," Calabrass said, breaking the silence. "I don't need to see any of that, mate. Bad enough I'll get to hear it. And stop grinnin' like that. Ye're fixin' to look like one o' Skullivar's boneheads."

"'Brass, if I could, I'd swat you right now," I replied, still smiling as I turned over in bed.

"Ye know I'm always right," he retorted from next to my pillow.

"So is a certain Atlantean princess," I said. "But don't tell her I admitted that. Ever."

"Secret's safe wi' me, lad. I don't want her findin' out either."

"Night, Cal."

"Night, Zak. Have good dreams so ye don't wake me wi' your screamin' and whinin.'"

"You don't sleep," I replied drowsily, rolling over.

"So ye don't disturb me, then."

"I'll dream of Cece," I said.

I drifted off to sleep still smiling.

 **Hey everyone! So I don't know how many of you know Zak Storm, but it's from the makers of Miraculous, Zagtoon. Anyway, it's pretty entertaining, but it has a tiny fanbase so I decided to contribute where I might. Most of the first season is on Netflix if you haven't checked it out. No shame here, I love it, haha,esp. ZaCe. Thanks for stopping by, and cheers!**


	2. II Marituga

II. Marituga

The next morning I staggered up to the deck, blinking at the brilliant sunlight.

"Morning, Captain," Crogar said thickly from behind a mouthful of something. He, Caramba, and Clovis were all at the railing.

"Morning, guys," I replied. Cece didn't seem to be up yet.

"Uh, Zak?"

"Hmm?"

I turned. Caramba flipped up the top of his armor and gave me a sheepish smile.

"Is it possiblox that we couldox gox to Marituga?"

"Yesox," I said slowly, adding the Wahoolian -ox as a joke. "But why?"

"Well, uh, Captain...uh, the, um, uh…"

"Spit it out, space worm!" Calabrass ordered impatiently from my shoulder. I crossed my arms.

"What he said. But kinder."

"Okay, Zak. The _Chaos_ needs some refittox. That battle with the skeletox damaged the—" I tuned out the mechanical junk he spouted here and picked up again on "—and we need that partox, which I knowox I can findox in Marituga."

"Ahem." Cece cleared her throat, emerging from below. "There is another good reason we ought to make port, Zak." I watched her closely. There was a slight blush to her cheeks still, and sunlight bounced off of her golden crown. "The water barrels are running dangerously low. We need to take on some more before continuing."

She was holding a sextant, which she brought to her eye and started fiddling with.

"Hmmm," I said. "All right, crew. Marituga it is. But if we see Sassafras, let's run in the other direction."

This earned me a laugh. The old witch was always trying to squeeze doubloons out of us or send us on quests for treasures she'd lost.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Clovis saluted and did a backflip.

"I'm not finished with orders yet," I pointed out. "But you know the drill. Clovis, to the top! On the lookout for the island. Cece, try to figure out where we're at. I'll consult the charts below. Caramba, Crogar, try to hold the ship together until we've anchored."

They all acknowledged my orders and went off in their own directions. Meanwhile, I dashed down to my cabin to grab the chart showing the Sea of Beru. It was open on the table.

"Oh...," I said softly, tracing my finger over the wavy lines. I blinked something from my eye.

"Zounds, man, what's it now?" Calabrass asked a bit irritably.

I knuckled my eye as I responded. "Some dust."

He went quiet.

"Yer thinkin' 'bout the last time ye saw yer da. When he let ye take the chart."

"That's it," I confessed. "Right on the money. What're you, Calabrass the Correct?"

"In most things," he replied, as I carefully rolled up the chart and emerged back on deck.

"Hey, Cece. Any idea how far we are from Marituga?"

"Actually, a few hours," she answered. "Hello...Zak." The big smile was back, and it matched mine.

Calabrass groaned. "And now ye both look like those blasted grinnin' skulls."

We both ignored him. "I really enjoyed last night," Cece whispered, her eyes intent on mine.

I put a hand to the back of my head, feeling myself redden. "So did I, Chrysta Coraline Lejune."

"You know my name!" She exclaimed.

I shrugged. "Ah, I've been around you long enough."

"How is it I do not know yours?"

"Um." I hesitated. "It's—it's Conrad Zacharie Storm. And don't get any ideas! Don't you _dare_ call me that. Bad enough Freonus knows it. Every time I've seen him, he's there with his "Conrad Zacharie Storm, you have saved the Triangle, and Conrad Zacharie Storm, you must pass this test because only the darkness can win, and Conrad Zacharie Storm, blah ba-blah ba-blah. I was like, 'Okay okay! Enough with the full name.'"

Cece laughed outright, then covered her mouth. "You...you really do not like it, do you, Zak?"

"No," I answered emphatically. "It's Zak. Storm."

"All right, Captain, I will not ever call you Conrad Zacharie Storm," she promised, still amused.

"That goes for you too, Cal," I said, glancing at him.

He muttered something, sounding displeased. I thought I caught something about me forgetting all about him when I looked into Cece's eyes.

It was true. Sort of.

I unfurled the chart as I climbed up to the quarterdeck. Cece followed, still holding the sextant.

I took the wheel, but as I was about to push the throttle, I stopped for a second.

"Hey, Cece..."

"Yes, Zak?"

"I don't know how those Atlantean boys back home do it, but where I come from, when a guy likes a girl, he asks her out. So Cece. Will you go out with me?"

She looked slightly puzzled. "Go out to where?"

I revised it a little bit. That probably wasn't in the Atlantean vernacular.

"What I meant is...will you be my girlfriend?"

She almost couldn't answer, she was smiling so hard. "Yes, Zak Storm. Absolutely!"

"Cool," I breathed. I turned and gave her a quick peck on the lips, fully intending to pull back so I could start the engine, yet her arms wound around me. I was trapped. And I liked it.

This time she initiated a harder kiss, one that pushed the wheel against my back.

"Whoa," I gasped. Cece had grown up, too.

I heard Calabrass groan distantly.

"That is all, Captain," she told me with a cheeky smile as she released me. I winked, recovering somewhat. Cece laughed and winked back. There was a bounce to her step when she walked to the rail.  
I grinned so hard that it hurt and tried to remember my task.

Eventually it came to me, and I pushed the throttle to full speed. "Full steam ahead, _Chaos_!"

I let him take it away.

 **Hey everyone, funny thing: I don't really care if I get favorites or follows for this story because I'm doing this purely because I enjoy it so much. I've got no faves and yet here's the second chapter! Short but sweet, I like to say. Haha. Anyway, if anyone cares, the next chapter will really get down to the business of Zak's latest mission. Shout-out to the guest review I got on the first part, thanks! Enjoy, and cheers. ;)**


	3. III The Evil Eyes

III. The Evil Eyes

"Whew. Good work, guys," I said, swiping my forehead. It had taken a lot of energy none of us really had, but we had pulled into Marituga, gotten water for a reasonable price, returned with the refilled barrels and stowed them onboard. That last bit was largely thanks to Crogar, though.

Speak of the devil—Crogar staggered up from below and groaned. "Hot. Too hot for Vikings."

"It is awfullox hotox for Marituga," Caramba agreed. He had his armor open as he tinkered with the part he had picked up for the _Chaos._ "It feelox more likeox Blazz."

"This heat seems dangerous," Cece agreed, waving a hand in front of her face, which looked a bit red.

I looked closer at her. "Cece, are you getting sunburned?"

"Nonsense. Atlanteans do not sunburn," she answered, predictably.

"That can't be because you're underwater all the time," I pointed out.

She fanned her face and shot me a glare. She was cute when she was annoyed.

To be fair, we were all kind of grumpy. The air felt humid. Almost like a storm was coming, and it was making us all cranky.

I tried to pull myself and my crew together. "All right, Cs. We'll weigh anchor and hang out in Sino for a while, maybe. Caramba, how's that fix going?"

"Well, Zak," he began. "This is the flux capacitox. It lets us gox from seaox to seaox without too much elementox in the cystalox in the wiring regulatox—."

I crossed my arms and interrupted before the explanation became too complicated. "So it's like thermal shock again?"

"Yes, exactox—well, if I don't reattachox this part. It was knockox into the oceanox by one of Skullivar's minions." Caramba continued to play with the thin, triangular piece of metal, which had colorful wires sticking out the back. "So once I fixox it, we can continueox sailing."

"All right, 'Ramba. How—" I stopped myself. I had been about to ask how long he needed, but Caramba had only ever answered that question in Wahoolian units of time, which I was not fluent in. If there was one thing being captain for four years had taught me, it was to just let him work. He always came through. I continued. " _How_ about the rest of us explore the bazaar while we wait? Unless, of course, you need help."

My friend shook his head. "No, go aheadox. Have fun. Clovis and I will fixox it."

At this, Clovis poofed into existence above Caramba's head. "Wot? I heard me name." He had his ball and chain, which he was using as a jump rope at the moment. "One, two, three—"

"Clovis," I interrupted. "You're gonna stay here and help Caramba fix the ship, while Cece, Crogar and I go back into town."

"Ahem!" Calabrass cleared his throat.

"…And Calabrass," I amended.

"What do ye think I am, some lame toothpick to be forgotten, Zak?" he grumbled.

"I'm sorry, 'Brass," I sighed. Then I laughed. "Although Sassafras seems to think so."

"Don't even mention the witch's name," he snapped. "And ye know that ain't funny."

"Uh…," Cece, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. "I…" She staggered a bit. My arm shot out and caught her, steadying her waist.

"Cece. Cece, are you okay?" I asked with concern, looking deeply into her eyes.

"I…do not feel well," she answered, gritting her teeth. "It is the heat, Zak. Something about it is wrong. And the sea…not right…"

She buried her face in my shoulder. I held her close, conscious of the intimacy of our postures and how neither of us had actually warned our friends about this.

"Zetraflon!" I heard from behind.

"Ewww! Look loike they're about to kiss."

"Zak loves Cece?"

We pulled apart, watching the expressions on everyone's faces.

"Yes, Zak loves Cece," I replied, feeling my heart thump. "But we have bigger problems right now." I helped her sit down, gently peeling her off of me.

"Look," she whispered, pointing a shaky finger. There was a threatening cloud of fog, almost a wall, against the horizon. It resembled the mists of Vapir.

"Whoa," I breathed. "That's wild."

"It is making me feel sick. f you do not mind, I believe I will stay here while you go to the bazaar," she whispered. "I feel that it would be worse if I am on land. Perhaps I will swim." Now her former redness had faded and she was pale, biting her lip.

"Okay." I looked up at my crew, who was still gaping. "You heard that, she isn't feeling well. So I'm not going into town. We will all stay here with Cece until Caramba has the _Chaos_ fixed."

"I can't believe you two finallox got togethox," Caramba said, very obviously not thinking about what I was saying.

"This doesn't change anything," I said impatiently. "We're the 7Cs. We save the Triangle and we're the best of friends. Just because Cece and I are dating now does not mean the group dynamic is gonna change or anything,"

Clovis remained silent, floating with a frown.

Meanwhile, Crogar clapped his big hands, tears rolling from his eyes. He laughed. "Now Crogar hopes he will be as lucky and be with Zefra some day!"

"And you of course have my congratulox," Caramba added.

"Ugh," Clovis groaned. "This means they'll be all kissy in front o' us. I'm jumpin' ship!" He tried, anyway, jumping off the _Chaos_ and running on his chain for a bit before it snapped back. "Yeowww! I hate this thing! Hate it!"

Next to me, Cece groaned too, a sickly sound. Her head had landed on my shoulder again.

"Cece, is there anything I can do?" I asked a bit hopelessly. "What is the mist? And the heat?"

I felt her head shake. "I do not know. Nothing good."

"All right, we'll figure it out later. So the Triangle's acting weird. We've never seen that before. Anyway, everyone, to work," I told my crew, who was still gawking. Was Cece and me getting together really so weird?

Caramba resumed work on his flux triangle thingy, and Crogar hunkered down nearby, his chin propped on one giant fist like a rock.

"Captain." Clovis was interrupting, hanging upside down in front of me, interrupting my thoughts. "This may be a bad time, but…"

"Yes?" I answered tiredly.

"Well, you know I can't get off the ship, so's I was wonderin' if you would for me. Could ye get me some o' those caramels, Zak? Pretty please?"

"Now?" I looked worriedly at Cece. She was quiet, but pale, as she listened.

"Well, we won't be back to Marituga for a while," Clovis pointed out, his eyes big.

I sighed. "Cece, will you be okay if I leave for a minute?"

She nodded, and I helped ease her head against the side of the _Chaos._ "Crogar, please watch her. I'll only be a second."

"Crogar protect Cece," he assured me, moving to sit beside her.

"Wait…Zak…" She lifted her head and looked directly at me. "Do not go. Something is wrong."

"Aw, Cece…" I held her hand. "I'll be right back. I owe Clovis one and the stand's right up the stairs. And of course, I have Calabrass," I said, smirking a bit.

"Damn right, lad!" He crowed.

Cece still looked unsure, but she squeezed my hand. "I would rather that you did not go, but…" she sighed.

"Like I said, I'll be right back. You just work on feeling better, okay?"

I pecked her cheek and leapt over the side.

…

"A bag of caramels, please," I requested from the shopkeeper. She handed me a bulging sack of the sweet candy, and I gave her a few doubloons.

You know, I wasn't quite sure what Clovis wanted with these—he couldn't exactly digest them, being an 'endoplasmic life form'. But I owed him this—I had been too busy to play every time he asked me this week. I reflected that all of us growing up had to be hardest on Clovis. Somewhere along the way we'd all had less time for fun and games and things had gotten more grueling.

That being said, I still did my best to keep the grueling parts fun…but that wasn't the point. "Clovis feels left out," I confided to Calabrass as we headed back to the ship.

I heard a sharp grunt. "He ain't the only one."

"Is this about me and Cece?" I wasn't clueless. I'd heard my friend's moans and groans. "Aw, c'mon, Cal, don't be such a cross- _bones_."

"Ye and yer moonstruck eyes when ye looks at her," Cal grumbled, ignoring my joke. He'd been doing a lot of that recently. "Like a siren and a shipwrecked pirate what's been snipped by crab claws."

"Wow, that's colorful," I observed. "Look, Cal, I'm sorry. This is my first time in love, and I don't want to mess it up. Because…I don't know. I just feel like…Cece's her. She's right for me, somehow. There's no one else, and there won't be anyone else."

Calabrass heaved a huge sigh. "Lad, I was young once too, believe it or not. How can I be such a 'cross-bones', as ye say, when I know how that bond feels?"

"Thanks." I felt a warm glow inside. "I'm just really happy."

"I know, Zak. But what are ye gonna do when we all go home?"

"When we all go home?" I waved a hand. "Like _that's_ gonna happen."

"Oh, it will," came a new voice, reedy and annoying. "O-or we will all die."

I balked. "Too late to run?" I muttered to Calabrass out of the corner of my mouth.

He hissed. "We're caught, mate."

Sassafras was beckoning from her den, waving her gnarled fingers.

I closed my eyes. "What is this about, Sassafras?"

"Come, Zak Storm," she ordered. "You are the only hope."

"I need to get back," I hooked a thumb towards the docks. "My—Cece's sick."

"And why do you think your girlfriend's sick?" the witch countered.

"How did you know—?"

"I know a lot of things, Zak Storm. And I know the Triangle is in trouble."

Still, I hesitated. _No wonder Cece didn't want me to go. Something felt wrong._

"Oh, but first…" Sassafras wiggled her fingers.

I scowled. "I don't have any money on me. I spent it."

"But I can't work for free," she cried.

I gave her an irritated look. Then I plopped the caramels into her outstretched hand. "Payment. Now spit it out."

"Oh, well, all right," she said in that annoying way of hers, and she led me down into her dark hole. I'd come to think of it as such. Nothing good had ever happened after I'd had to go down there.

"My, Zak Storm, you've grown," she went on, rounding a table where a book was open. She sounded like the world's worst grandma. "You're a young man now."

My jaw tightened. "Please just get to the point."

"He's grown enough to whup ye, ye witch," Calabrass snarled. His green eyes were burning.

"Yes, yes, noisy toothpick as usual," she said, nodding. "And he's grown up enough for the task."

"Who are ye callin' a toothpick?! Try that again, Sassafras, and I'll—"

"What task?" I demanded, cutting of Calabrass.

"Ah." She hobbled to the book and pointed to a page. "There are the seven eyes of the seven seas." They were all painted on the page, with some ancient script surrounding them. "Or so you think."

She flipped the page.

"There are actually fourteen."

"Hogwash," Calabrass growled.

"Fourteen?" I peered at the book. These eyes looked the same as the ones mounted on Cal's hilt. But there _were_ seven more. Seven that were darker colored than the gems I had.

"These are the Eyes of Apocalypse," Sassafras said. Her voice was grim as I'd ever heard it. She turned another page. "There is balance to everything—light and dark. There are seven eyes of good, and seven of evil. The seven evil eyes are linked by a magic bond that will allow them to destroy the Triangle. Each one has that power. The Eye of Mohoca—evil eye of Vapir—will cause the end of the Triangle by flooding all seven seas with poison and turning it into a spirit world of death and decay. The Eye of Moloch—evil eye of Blazz—will end the Triangle with magma and flame, turning it into a fiery hell. The evil eye of Beru will cause the entire Triangle to drown, the evil eye for Aeria will cause such terrible storms no life form will be able to exist…and so on. And it is nearly impossible to destroy the Evil Eyes."

I stared at the paintings of destruction. "Won't some life forms still exist? The skeletons, for instance—they could survive the Apocalypse brought by the evil Vapir eye, right?"

Sassafras flipped the page again. "Nothing would survive, because after the initial destruction, the overbalance would be too much. The Seven Seas are balanced in their own element, Zak Storm. If one sea eclipses the others, the Triangle will collapse immediately after the catastrophic event."

"So we're royally screwed," I remarked heavily. "I wish this was a bad joke."

Calabrass sighed. "I enjoyed sailin' wi' ye, Captain."

Sassafras held up a finger. "I am not yet finished, Zak Storm. If ye succeed in finding—and destroying all seven Evil Eyes—the path of the Waypoints will be clear."

I stared at her. "You mean we could go home?"

"Once the prophecy is fulfilled, one way or another," she answered vaguely. "There is a prophecy that the Evil Eyes will be sought and that someone will try to destroy them using the Eyes of the Seven Seas…but it does not say whether the quest succeeds or fails. If it fails, we all die."

"I have the Eyes of the Seven Seas," I breathed. "So there's a chance? They can only be destroyed by the light half of their power?"

"Yes," Sassafras frowned. "But you are working against time, here. These Evil Eyes work like a time bomb. Each is close to detonation. You have a slight window to destroy each of them before one power ruins the balance, causes a catastrophic event, and results in the collapse of the Triangle."

"And this…this is why Cece didn't feel well?" I asked, remembering her warning.

"The Atlantean sensed something wrong with the powers of the sea. The Evil Eye of Beru is restless. They all are. It is abnormally hot because the Evil Eye of Blazz is as well. It feels like a storm is coming because the Evil Eye of Aeria is also approaching its time. The end of the Triangle is upon us. Within the next few days, more signs will appear that things are amiss. But it is the Evil Eye of Vapir that you must destroy first."

"Why?"

"It will unleash its catastrophe first. Did you not notice the dark mists coming over the edge of the horizon? Do you and your friends not feel drained of energy?"

"The mist? It…I thought it was just fog. And the lack of energy…the heat?"

"No, Zak Storm. Something much worse. The Sea of Vapir is surging, about to break its boundaries as its evil eye detonates. In fact, it's all in this book. The order of each gem's detonation, and under what circumstances it will occur," she went on. "You may have it. For a small price."

"All right, Sassafras," I said firmly, ignoring the part about a price. "Sounds like a bad day. But don't worry. Me and my crack crew will save the Triangle." I closed the book with finality and picked it up. Caramba could probably read the old language.

"Good!" she exclaimed as she followed me back up to the street. "It's not like I could ask anyone else, you know. I couldn't ask Flint for _this_. Although he does have more money than you. Until he stumbles into the tavern, at least. But anyway. I can always wait on your payment in full, Zak Storm."

I nodded, again ignoring the bit about doubloons owed. "I swear I won't let the Triangle down. The 7Cs will save everyone again," I repeated, willing it to be true.

"Good luck, Zak Storm," Sassafras said, waving.

I flashed her a grin. "Who needs luck when I've got Calabrass?"

I vaulted down the steps and walkway towards my ship, leaving Sassafras behind me.

"Zak!" Clovis gasped when I finally climbed onboard. "Caramba fixed the ship ages ago!"

"Where have you been?" Cece demanded, leaning on Crogar. I was so grateful to see her standing and vocal.

"According to my memory files, you did say a secondox, Captain," Caramba agreed.

"Zak gone for long," Crogar chimed in.

I held up the book. "I know, I'm sorry. I—"

"Hey, where are my caramels?" Clovis cried.

"About that…" I hesitated. "Calabrass and I have some pretty bad news. I can't believe this either…but I go to buy candy and I get a doomsday prediction instead."

"Not a prediction, a certainty," Calabrass corrected gravely.

"Yeah…Cece, if you're feeling better, find us a vortex to Vapir. Crogar, haul up the anchor and get ready in case we meet any boneheads. Caramba, can you try to translate this book while we sail? And Clovis, please act as lookout for that vortex…or anything else."

I mounted the steps to the quarterdeck, a slightly steadier Cece following me. "What exactly is happening, Zak?"

I waited till Crogar had brought the anchor onboard, then I pushed the throttle. "I'll explain on the way. Everyone meet on the quarterdeck when the vortex is in sight."

I stared out at that horizon, an uncomfortable feeling eating me.

 **Ahoy there! Well met, mates. I'm mighty grateful ye stopped by, I am. Wot's wi' the Calabrass talk, ye ask? Why, 'tis International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and I thought I'd celebrate by postin' Chapter III o' me favorite Triangle pirate and crew's adventures. Aye, looks like a blow is a-comin' for Zak Storm and his 7Cs... As always, mates, enjoy, and keep sailin'!**

 **The Wild Rover Marauderess, On the Account**


End file.
